Science, technology and innovation minister Blade Nzimande has established a working group to tackle the funding crisis facing SA’s research sector, he announced at the weekend.
SA universities and research organisations are reeling after a series of moves by US President Donald Trump’s administration have terminated grants, closing projects and forcing retrenchments.
“The abrupt withdrawal of funding will not only greatly impair cutting-edge USA-SA science research collaboration to combat … high-risk communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, but is also posing real-life consequences for patients enrolled in crucial scientific trial and treatment programmes,” the minister said in a statement.
In April universities and research institutes launched an urgent appeal to the Treasury for R150m in emergency funding, after some grants from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) were abruptly terminated and others not renewed, sparking the fear that all funding would cease. The NIH has for decades been the single biggest funder of biomedical research in SA and had awarded grants to SA researchers running to more than R1.2bn for the current fiscal year, according to the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
The working group is to be chaired by the minister’s former adviser Derrick Swartz, and has been charged with analysing the impact of the withdrawal of US funds on SA’s research and innovation system. Its terms of reference include analysing the geopolitical risks to science, technology and innovation and how SA should position itself to deal with the current situation. It is expected to propose policy and strategic response to enhance the long-term security and sustainability of SA’s science, technology and innovation system.
“I expect the group to say how we [can] secure our research enterprise and ... increase collaboration ... with our true friends in the north,” the minister said in an interview on eNCA at the weekend.
The minister subsequently told Business Day that SA was committed to “scientific internationalism” to enable its scientists to collaborate with their counterparts around the world. “Our true friends are those who uphold the values of international solidarity, co-operation and commitment to peaceful development and coexistence,” he said.
Nzimande said that while considerable work had already been done to assess the impact of Trump’s actions on health research in SA, further analysis was required to gauge the effect in other fields.
“Government will be reaching out to all relevant and appropriate public, private and philanthropic sources of potential support for our science system and this includes potential funders on the African continent. Beyond donor funding, a fundamental challenge for SA and indeed the wider African continent [is] the vital imperative of raising public and private sector gross investment in research, development and innovation.”
SA spends only 0.6% of GDP on research and development, according to government figures.
The minister is expected to appoint members to the working group this week. They will have four weeks to complete a draft report, with a final report due on June 30.
The SAMRC welcomed Nzimande’s announcement, saying it was deeply concerned about the impact of the funding cuts.
“The establishment of the STI-WG [science, technology and innovation working group] is a timely and necessary intervention to assess the implications of this funding loss and to develop robust policy and strategic responses to ensure that SA remains resilient, self-reliant and globally competitive in science, technology, and innovation,” it said in a statement.
The SAMRC said it was exploring ways to tackle the immediate funding shortfall and long-term vulnerabilities. This includes raising R2bn over the next two years to strengthen the health research sector and diversifying SA’s long-term funding model.
“Now more than ever, it is critical for SA to invest in and protect its scientific capabilities to preserve the progress we have made in improving health outcomes, strengthening innovation capacity, and promoting global scientific collaboration,” it said.
Update: May 8 2025
This story has been updated with the minister’s comments.
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